The Director of Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases in Vector and Zoonotics from the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, has appealed to the public to be aware of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) during the coronavirus pandemic.
Currently, there is a double risk of infection from dengue fever and COVID-19. The ministry has received many reports from several provinces related to both infections.
“Out of 460 regencies or cities that have reported dengue cases, 439 regencies or cities also reported COVID-19 cases, so this is a double infection,” she said.
She warned that dengue cases usually occur in March. But this year dengue fever is still increasing until June. Based on the case notes, there are still 100-500 dengue cases per day, the number of dengue cases alone has reached 68,000 cases.
“So in provinces where the number of COVID-19 cases is high, they also report dengue, such as West Java, Lampung, NTT, East Java, Central Java, and South Sulawesi,” he said.
DHF has a high mortality rate. The Ministry of Health’s report noted that there were 346 cases of dengue deaths as of June this year.
Nadia urged people to do the 3M plus routine to prevent DHF at home. The routine includes draining water reservoirs, disposing of or burying used goods that can become mosquito breeding grounds, and recycling items where possible.
The “plus” element of the routine is the prevention of mosquito bites by using mosquito repellent lotions and anti-mosquito drugs.
Government spokesperson for handling COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto, had reminded the public of diseases other than COVID-19, namely dengue, when entering the transition season.
Yuri appealed to all families and people of Indonesia to eradicate mosquito nests that are around them. Moreover, he said that if dengue fever mixed with coronavirus, it would result in a fairly high mortality rate.
Source: CNN Indonesia